The containment and/or collection of urine from an incontinent female is a problem for millions of women. In providing a urine collection device for females, reliable functioning, no matter whether the flow is small or large, or the onset is sudden, is of utmost importance. Few things can be more embarrassing than a sudden uncontrolled urination, particularly when it is noticed by other people. It is highly desirable that any ladies incontinence device be able to handle this possibility without leakage. The nature of the condition mandates that many wearers of an incontinence device keep the device in place against their person for relatively long periods of time. As a result, comfort is quite important as is freedom from irritation and chafing which may result from normal movement of the wearer with the device in place. It is also highly desirable to remove the waste fluid from any contact with the body as soon as possible to minimize irritation and infection.
Many of the prior art devices are highly intrusive and prone to causing infection. Refer to devices found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,233,978; 4,484,917; 4,563,183 and 4,886,508. These devices are typically quite large and too easily cause cross-contamination and related infections. Furthermore, although some of these devices do show the use of an adhesive, such as shown in the '183 patent, the device covers too large an area and substantially increases the likelihood of infection and cross-contamination.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved female catheter device that is relatively compact and unobtrusive.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a female catheter that is constructed and arranged so as to eliminate infections, such as bladder infections, that have been common with prior art devices.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a female catheter that is readily applied, is effective in gathering all dispensed fluids and is also readily removable and replaceable.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved female catheter that is relatively small in size and that can be readily applied even by an unskilled person.